An owner of property in Iron and Ashland counties that was the site of a contentious proposal to mine iron ore is trying to resurrect plans for the mine, an Iron County economic development official said.

Officials of La Pointe Iron Co., one of the owners of the property that Gogebic Taconite unsuccessfully sought to develop as a massive open pit mine, met with local representatives in Hurley on Wednesday to discuss reviving the plans.

Kelly Klein, director of development for the Iron County Development Zone, said he and others met with La Pointe representatives, who told them they are eager to find another developer for the site.

Take dogs out of the hunt

A judge's ruling Friday that opens the door to using dogs to hunt wolves next season marks an opportunity for the Legislature to revisit the issue - and remove dogs as wolf hunters.
In his ruling, Dane County Circuit Judge Peter Anderson chastised the state Department of Natural Resources for not issuing adequate rules for the training of dogs to hunt wolves. It does appear that the DNR could have provided better guidance in that regard, and perhaps it will as it continues to work on a permanent rule for wolf hunts, authorized by the Legislature last year. Anderson also removed a temporary injunction barring the use of dogs in this past year's hunt, which ended in December, meaning they could be used to hunt in the next season.
But the real culprit here is the Legislature, which allowed for dogs in its legislation but failed to also adequately address the training, tracking and trailing issues raised by Anderson.
That means to us that its up the Legislature to reconsider its legislation. Of the few states that allow the hunting of wolves, Wisconsin is the only one that authorizes the use of dogs. And wolf experts make a good case that using dogs makes the hunt unsafe for the dogs and cruel for the wolves.
The Legislature, which started its new session Monday, should take a close look at what the experts and science have to say and remove dogs from the hunt.